At the end of a discussion on ‘Leading with inclusion’, a male leader reached out to me offline to say, “While I strongly agree with the idea of equal opportunities, how can one guard against the soft bigotry of low expectations while hiring diverse groups? Hiring women, especially those who are married, having primary care responsibilities, will simply mean more effort and flexibility by the men/others in the team to ensure work deliveries are not compromised.”

I was impressed with his refreshing and uncommon candour while expressing his concerns. We discussed how the journey of building a diverse and inclusive workplace involves journeys of serious reflections on the inside — on strongly held values, beliefs and assumptions regarding diverse groups. This, even as we manifest equality and opportunities on the outside. That diversity means the group is different. And to value the difference, we need to actively create ‘ramps’ to enable these groups to maneuver and navigate workplaces to become successful. ‘Ramps’ is a metaphor for the support, compassion and flexibility that may be required to enable diverse groups, in this case women, to manage key life transitions and continue to become invaluable contributors to the organisation’s journey in the future.

This episode remains etched in my mind because the leader had the gumption to openly express his presumptions rooted in biases and ask for clarity. In most cases, these questions are buried under the pressures of compliance on diversity numbers and expectations of leaders to appear morally and socially right by obviously supporting the agenda of equal opportunities.

In fact, the moot challenge with the diversity and inclusion (D&I) agendas, even in organisations where this is being driven actively, is the unrelenting focus being placed on compliance instead of culture-building.

Let’s look at the current overall gender diversity situation within India Inc. The representation of women in the workforce has dropped from 24% to 20% during the pandemic (according to the International Labour Organization). The representation of women in India Inc spans from no women in senior leadership to at best 11%, in companies having 30%-plus women representation at entry levels, with a significant leakage in the pipeline at junior-/mid-bands.

These statistics can often bewilder leaders as the optics around women empowerment as presented in the media — through advertisements, awards and on social media — tend to give a sense of much greater progress and accomplishments on this agenda. In reality, most organisations that have hired women see representation itself as the agenda, with inadequate efforts on creating cultures of inclusion that integrate women by creating a momentum for their career advancement and growth.

Having said that, there are a few organisations investing actively in gender diversity, by creating ecosystems and governance to build, groom and prepare women for leadership and decision-making. These organisations are steadily making transitions from compliance for diversity headcount to driving real inclusion and contributions from diverse groups. There are also some trailblazer organisations leading the way. These inspire others to emulate the journey of equal opportunities and build contemporary workplaces where both men and women contribute equally to the success of the organisation.

For organisations wanting to embark on an impactful D&I agenda focusing on gender diversity, here are some actions to consider:

• Make recruitment processes more inclusive: Make job descriptions more inclusive, encourage gender-blind hiring and include women in the hiring process. For gender diversity to succeed, it is imperative to ensure no hiring standards are being compromised to bust the myth on women being ‘diversity candidates’ — a biased term used to indicate women/diverse candidates hired to fulfil the compliance agenda, without necessarily meeting the hiring standards.
• Offer flexibilities where possible to protect women’s career momentum: This can enable long-term retention and loyalty, especially when support to key life transitions are given. Often flexible policies create a mindset of compassion for others. For example, some companies have started returnee programmes for even men who may have taken career breaks to manage life challenges.
• Improve transparency around pay to ensure parity and fairness to all diversities: This is important to become a credible equal opportunities employer.
• Set up mentoring schemes: Mentors play a vital role in boosting the potential of diverse groups. Programmes like ‘men as diversity partners’ and ‘men as allies’ help champion personal and professional development for women and help them adopt a growth mindset to search for new opportunities that will challenge them. The best part of these programmes is the culture of mentoring it creates for all diversities.
• Build culture of inclusion and psychological safety: Train all employees on conscious and unconscious biases and empower everyone to call out these.

While these are important steps for companies looking to build diverse and inclusive cultures through gender diversity, it is time for women to play a more active role in their own journeys of empowerment, and ‘#ChooseToChallenge’ (the slogan for International Women’s Day 2021) the status quo on various issues.

#ChooseToChallenge urges women to choose to challenge biases, discrimination and misconceptions instead of bearing with them. Choose to challenge is an initiative to speak up and claim equality and respect.

Here is a list of what women could choose to challenge as they meet more than halfway to help employers build workplaces of equal opportunities:

1. #ChooseToChallenge biases when you see them: Don’t grin and bear and get resentful. Confront with respect and don’t accept being treated second class.
2. #ChooseToChallenge lack of support from those around you: Family, children must all do their bit to enable you to pursue your dreams. Challenge the status quo on being the only caregiver burdened with housework.
3. #ChooseToChallenge opportunities that appear too tough, too hard for a woman: Lean in to prove otherwise and bust myths to make it easy for other women.
4. #ChooseToChallenge any myth on your ability, dexterity, emotional strength needed to manage complex problems — take them on, head on!
5. #ChooseToChallenge that women are too dependent, agreeable, harmony oriented and emotional to take a tough stance, assert with courage, without breaking down relationships.
6. #ChooseToChallenge by living by your own brand of leadership worth emulating.
7. #ChooseToChallenge the belief that women do not want to work in teams lead by women or that women leaders don’t support women with lesser power.

Bust these myths by demonstrating the power of sisterhood to make each other win!

The pandemic has undoubtedly been an accelerator for change and building diverse and inclusive workplaces is a matter of compelling need rather than choice. #ChooseToChallenge old thinking by embarking on building diverse and inclusive organisations of high performance and innovation.